Legislation was introduced at today’s Atlanta City Council meeting to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with the City of Smyrna and Cobb County to conduct air testing for toxic emissions.

The legislation is in response to reported elevated emissions of ethylene oxide – classified as a cancer-causing carcinogen by the Environmental Protect Agency – being produced by Smyrna-based Sterigenics, which produces sterilization solutions for a variety of industries. The agreement will allow the city to proceed with conducting and monitoring air testing for ethylene oxide levels, which the city is directing out of an abundance of caution given the adjacency of the facility.

Sterigenics is located less than a mile from the City of Atlanta and borders the districts of Councilmembers Dustin Hillis and Councilmember J.P Matzigkeit, co-sponsors of the legislation.

“The City wants to ensure that our communities have clean air,” said Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms in a statement. “While there is no evidence our residents have been impacted, we must do our due diligence to ensure the well-being of our families.”

“As a health professional, resident, and representative of the area, it is very important to me that we partner with our neighbors in Cobb County and Smyrna to commission this air testing and monitoring,” said Hillis. “I have been working closely with Mayor Bottoms’ executive leadership team, along with officials from our neighboring governments, to ensure that the City of Atlanta is included in the testing that will be conducted by GHD.”